chapter seven

ugly truths

♰

WARNING BRIEF MENTION OF ASSAULT!
( toward the end )

CORDELIA AND DEAN walked side by side in content silence, the Winchester grasped two paper cups of coffee in hand whilst Cordelia took the occasional sip out of her own. She had summoned Dean to silence as he kept going on and on about that kiss she had 'promised' him.

When she finally thought that he was done ⸻ Dean begrudgingly continued. "I mean, you did say, and I quote: you can have that thank you kiss," he stated in a high-pitched tone, mocking Cordelia's voice as he broke the content silence, along with Cordelia's will to live.

The brunette woman sighed and shut her eyes momentarily before she pursed her lips and angled her head to face him, she put on a confused expression. "Did I? I..." she clicked her tongue, "see, I don't remember that."

"A promise is a promise, Cordy," Dean retorted, sending her a knowing smirk as she glanced back at him tersely. "You break a promise..." he sucked in a dramatic breath of air. "Bad things happen. Very, very bad things."

"Yeah? I'll take my chances," she grumbled, catching sight of the Impala.

"Just remember, if you get bad luck... that's on you, I'm trying to help you here, this is me looking out for a friend," Dean continued, a coy tone to his voice.

As Dean grumbled more reasons as to why she shouldn't 'break a promise', as he had put it, Cordelia thought her head was about to explode. So, she let out a sigh of dismay and abruptly whirled around ⸻ her free hand snaked to the back of Dean's neck, pulling his lips to hers.

While it was only a brisk kiss, nothing too explicit, Cordelia couldn't help but feel a burst of... something erupt in her chest. What she was feeling, she couldn't describe it ⸻ but whatever the hell it was, she didn't like it, so she pulled away and flashed him a pearly grin and turned, making her way back to the Impala, but the frown that settled on her face was prominent.

She knew she didn't have to kiss him, she knew that if she firmly told him no he would've dropped it, but for some strange ⸻ very strange ⸻ reason, she wanted to kiss him, even for just a second.

As much as Cordelia was in-denial when it came to admitting Dean was sexy as hell, she wasn't stupid, nor was she blind. She noticed everything, even the little things.

How the veins in his hands would practically pulsate if he gripped something tightly, or when he'd remove his flannel his biceps would-

Jesus Christ, she needed to get laid.

Dean, however, stood in shock. He let out a breath and shook his head slightly before he trudged over to the Impala, following after her, a big, boyish grin splayed across his face.

As they arrived at the car, the pair found Sam slumped down in the passenger seat sleeping, though he appeared to be having a nightmare as his chest heaved up and down at a quick pace.

Dean's forearm rested on the roof of the Impala before he called out to his brother. "Sam! Wake up!"

Sam's head shot up hurriedly as he sat up, he looked around groggily, a tired pant leaving his lips as he did so. "I take it I was having a nightmare?" He asked, voice low and rough.

"Yeah, another one," Dean sighed, glancing down at his brother, his brows worriedly furrowed, though he did not voice his concerns.

"Hey, at least I got some sleep," Sam shrugged, looking between Dean and Cordelia, causing the latter to raise her eyebrows.

"Yeah, well, you still look like hell," she countered, giving him a stern look. "Really bad look you've got going on, Sammy."

"You're a delight, you know that, Cordy?" Sam said sarcastically, giving her a wry smile, eliciting in her giving him the same.

"You know, sooner or later we're gonna have to talk about this," Dean told his brother, giving him that same pointed stare Cordelia was giving him.

Sam pursed his lips for a moment and cleared his throat before he glanced out of the window. "Are we here?"

"Yep," Cordelia nodded her head in answer, silencing the sound of ambulances reverberating through her ears.

"Welcome to Toledo, Ohio," Dean grumbled boredly before he passed his brother both the newspaper and cup of coffee through the open car window.

Sam glanced down at the newspaper and folded it over so that he could see better, his eyes glued onto the circled picture of a man, his name written boldly under the image.

'SHOEMAKER, Steven'.

"So what do you think really happened to this guy?" Sam inquired, lifting his gaze from the paper and over to his brother and best friend.

"That's what we're gonna find out," Dean said, taking a sip of his drink before he whirled around and discarded the paper cup into the nearest bin. "Let's go," he summoned the other two with a simple hand gesture, causing Cordelia to roll her eyes.

Sam groggily stepped out of the car and followed the other two as they began to head for the building. As they walked up the steps, Cordelia felt Dean's eyes on her before she even turned around ⸻ the woman screwed her eyes shut harshly for a moment.

"What!?" Cordelia whisper-shouted over at Dean, she glanced over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes at him. "Stop looking at me, you're creeping me out."

Dean gave an eccentric shrug. "I'm not... unless you want me to?" He continued with a smirk, earning a dry stare from the brunette woman.

"You repulse me," Cordelia muttered under her breath, though he could still hear the words utter from her mouth. When she turned to gauge the expression on his face, she found him staring at her with narrowed, questioning eyes. "What?"

"Nothing!" Dean threw his hands up in the air dramatically. "Jeez."

Sam glanced between the pair with furrowed brows. "Am I missing something here?"

"Nope," Cordelia shook her head as she pushed the double doors open, briefly holding them open for the two Winchester brothers. "Nothing at all."

Sam nodded, unconvinced. "Righhht," he drawled sarcastically, giving his head a slight shake.

After asking someone for directions to the morgue, the trio headed down there ⸻ as they strolled into the morgue, they found a lone man, sat behind a desk, a bag of chips in hand as he, not so delicately, shovelled them in his mouth.

"Hey," he greeted with a full mouth before he cleared his throat and looked between the three in confusion.

"Hey," Dean nodded back, giving the man an odd look before he stuck the charm on; causing a bright grin to fall upon his lips.

"Can I help you?" The man behind the desk asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, we're the, uh... med students," Dean said, unsure of himself, as he gestured between the trio.

Real smooth, Dean

"Sorry?"

"Oh, Dr. Feklowicz... didn't tell you?" Dean stumbled on his words as he attempted to pronounce the man's name ⸻ failing to do so. At the blank stare the man gave Dean, he continued. "We talked to him on the phone, we're, uh, from Ohio State. He's supposed to show us the Shoemaker corpse. It's for our paper."

"Well, I'm sorry, he's at lunch," the man told them, not too convinced with the words that were coming out of Dean's mouth.

"Oh. Well, he said, uh... oh, well, you know, it doesn't matter. You don't mind showing us the body, do you?"

"Sorry, I can't. Doc will be back in an hour. You can wait for him, if you want?" The man shrugged, picking up his bag of chips.

"An hour?" Dean sucked in a harsh breath through the side of his mouth. "Ooh. We've gotta be heading back to Columbus by then. Look man, this paper's like half our grade, so if you don't mind helping us out-"

"Look man... no."

Dean let out a dry chuckle and turned sideways, he lowered his voice so that only Cordelia and Sam could hear him. "I'm gonna hit him in his face, I swear."

As Sam nudged Dean harshly in the ribs for his words, Cordelia slid past the two and stuck a sweet, yet conniving, smile on her lips. She leant forward once she was stood in front of the man, her palms laid flat on the desk, showing the man just a flash of cleavage before she reached into her bra and pulled out a couple of bills.

Dean's eyes narrowed and his face scrunched as his eyes flickered between the man and the money. He didn't know what was irritating him more, the fact that the man's eyes were glued onto Cordelia's tits or how much money Cordelia had pulled out of them.

Then something dawned on Dean, causing him to eccentrically pat down his jacket pockets, coming to no avail in finding his wallet. However, he soon found it ⸻ only it was sitting in the back pocket of Cordelia's jeans.

When the hell did she take that?

She dropped the money down onto the desk, tilted her head and smiled at him. The man hastily grabbed the money and a smile pulled at his lips.

"Follow me," he told them.

Just as they were about to follow the man, Dean grabbed Cordelia by the forearm and spun her around. She rose her brows expectantly whilst he scowled at her. "Fifty bucks?"

Cordelia shrugged with a sly smile, "People like money, Dean."

"Dude, I earned that money," he protested.

"You won that money in a poker game," Sam pointed out, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yeah," Dean replied in a duh tone, Sam only shook his head and turned, following after the man.

"If you're gonna get all whiney about it, remember that I'm the reason you won that game, so really, half of it's mine," Cordelia said, giving him one last smile before she, too, turned and followed after Sam.

Dean mocked her words under his breath, pulling faces as he did so, it was as though she knew what he was doing as she glanced over her shoulder to face him and gave him a flat look ⸻ causing Dean's face to drop as he cleared his throat.

Cordelia rolled her eyes, but nonetheless, followed Sam into the morgue, pushing the door open, she was greeted with a sheet-covered body and Sam already questioning the man, "Now, the newspaper said his daughter found him. She said his eyes were bleeding."

"More than that," the man nodded in confirmation. "They practically liquefied." He said as he lifted the sheet off of the man's face, revealing his disfigured eyes.

Cordelia sucked in a harsh breath at the sight. She was so going to throw up. "Any, uh, sigh of a struggle? Or did someone else do it to him, maybe?"

"Nope," the man shook his head. "Besides the daughter, he was all alone."

"What's the, uh, official cause of death?" Sam asked.

"Um, doc's not sure, he's thinking massive stroke, maybe an aneurysm. Something burst up in there, that's for sure."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, raising a brow in question.

"Intense cerebral bleeding," the man lowered his voice as though the words he was uttering were a secret. "He's got more blood in his skull than anyone I've ever seen."

"And... his, uh, eyes," Cordelia spoke hesitantly, quickly flitting a passing look down to the dead man laid out on the table ⸻ internally wishing she hadn't, he looked like he was straight out of a horror movie. "What'd cause that?"

The man shook his head slowly as he answered, showing the three that he was unsure. "Capillaries can burst. Uh, see a lot of bloodshot eyes with stroke victims."

"Yeah? Ever see exploding eyeballs?" Dean asked, dragging his gaze away from the dead man on the table and onto the morgue tech.

"That's a first for me," the man let out. "But, hey, I'm not the Doctor."

"Think we could take a look at that police report?" Dean said, meeting Sam's eye as his younger brother gave him an obvious look ⸻ like a silent conversation. "You know, for our paper?"

Even at the charming smile, Dean gave the morgue tech, the man still shook his head and sucked in a harsh breath. "I'm not really supposed to show you that."

Cordelia kissed her teeth as all eyes fell on her, Dean, however, grumbled incoherent profanities under his breath as he soon realised more of his ( so-called, hard-earned ) money would be given to him. Cordelia plastered a fake smile on her lips and reached back into her bra, pulling out more bills.

♰

As the three hunters walked into the house of deceased man Steven Shoemaker, they immediately knew they didn't look the part. Cordelia could only assume they that had waltzed in on the gathering after the funeral.

Dean rolled his lips into his mouth and looked around at the people with sullen faces, clad in black clothes; he then looked down at himself. "Feel like we're underdressed," he huffed, glancing back to catch Sam and Cordelia's eyes.

Only to find the brunette woman hastily tugging her small top up her chest, then proceeding to wrap her jacket around her body, muttering profanities under her breath.

She may have looked like she was ready to hit the clubs, rather than a funeral; but she couldn't deny she was the best looking there.

Dear God, Cordelia, you're at a funeral, don't be so damn insensitive, she thought to herself, cursing at her own mind.

Though the judgemental looks she was getting from the two old ladies that sat on the sofa nearly convinced her to drop her tight hold on the jacket just to spite the women ⸻ but alas, she didn't, after all, it was still a funeral. Instead, she summoned her high school self and gave them the dirtiest look she could muster.

Why were old people so judgemental? If she ever made it to that age and turned out like them... shoot her.

She turned her attention back to Sam and Dean, who were beginning to walk through the house, she watched as Dean stopped beside an older man and put a pleasant smile on his face. From where she was standing she couldn't hear them, but she could only assume he was asking for directions of some sort as the older man nodded and began to lead them outside.

Dean turned to look back, only for a second, to ensure that the woman was still nearby, and when he locked onto her figure, he tilted his head in a gesture for her to catch up to them.

Cordelia only slowed down her steps, eliciting the man to roll his eyes. He turned his attention back to the man he was following.

As he led them outside, he pointed to a group of teenage girls sat on a bench at the far end of the garden. As Cordelia finally caught up to them she only caught the end of Sam's sentence. "-we're really sorry."

"Thank you," the girl, who Cordelia assumed was Steven's daughter, said politely. Another thing she noticed, however, was one of her friends gazing up at Dean as though he was an angel that just fell from heaven.

"I'm Sam, this is Dean and..." Sam looked around briefly and pointed to the brunette who stood beside his brother. "That's Cordelia. We worked with your dad."

Cordelia's eyes slid to Sam silently. Why'd he say that of all things? What if her dad was a pimp, or a drug smuggler or a... I don't know! Something ridiculous!

Donna, the man's daughter, looked at her friend, a confused expression on her face before she looked back at the three with a sceptical look painted on her features, "You did?"

"Yeah. This whole thing... I mean, a stroke," Dean blew out an exaggerated breath as he tried to think of something to say.

The Moore woman wished that the ground would swallow them whole right now, the awkward silence that followed Dean's incomplete sentence hung over their heads tauntingly. Don't get me wrong, she liked having eyes on her ⸻ but this? Right now? Awkwardddd.

"I don't think she really wants to talk about this right now." One of Donna's friends spoke, only to be cut off by Donna herself.

"It's okay, I'm okay," she nodded, reassuring her friend before she looked back at Dean, waiting for him to continue.

Cordelia looked up as she felt eyes on her, she caught sight of Donna's blonde friend, narrowing her eyes at her with a suspicious stare. Cordelia raised her eyebrows in a questioning manner, face screaming, what?

Dean looked over at her and noticed the look she was giving the teenager before he nudged her in the ribs causing her to wince. He then continued speaking, after giving the Moore woman a pointed look. "Were there ever any symptoms? Dizziness? Migraines?"

Donna thought for a moment before she shook her head, "No."

The youngest there, Donna's sister Lily, suddenly spun around and faced the three. "That's because it wasn't a stroke," she exclaimed.

Donna gave her sister an appalled look, "Lily, don't say that."

"What?" Sam questioned.

"I'm sorry, she's just upset," Donna looked up at Sam and gave him a small smile.

"No, it happened because of me," Lily continued to insist, worry coaxing her face.

"Sweetie, it didn't," Donna shook her head and grabbed Lily's hand reassuringly.

"Lily..." Sam began to say as he crouched down in front of the young girl. "Why would you say something like that?"

"Right before he died, I said it," she said, whispering the last word as though it was sacred.

"You said what?" Sam rose his eyebrows, but his tone was soft.

Right as the words 'Bloody Mary' left her lips Cordelia's breath got caught in her throat. Her eyes widened and she nudged Dean roughly in the ribs causing him to furrow his brows, he gave her a questioning look ⸻ but she said nothing, continuing to stand there with a face of shock.

Ever since Cordelia was a child Bloody Mary scared the hell out of her. Even though, being a hunter, nothing should scare her, she didn't say that name to this day. It gave her the heebie-jeebies and all that crap.

"She took his eyes, that's what she does," Lily continued.

"That's not why Dad died, this isn't your fault," Donna said, denying her sister's claims.

"I think your sister's right, Lily," Dean nodded along with Donna, giving Lily a reassuring smile. "There's no way it could've been Bloody Mary. Your dad didn't say it, did he?"

Lily looked down to the ground, "No, I don't think so."

After they finished talking with the four teenage girls, they snuck back into the house to do some digging in the bathroom ⸻ where Steven had died.

As they trudged up the stairs, Dean turned to Cordelia and asked, "What was that about?"

"Hm?" Cordelia questioned mindlessly, looking around as they made it to the top of the landing.

"That," Dean enunciated as he nudged her, as she did to him outside.

"Oh!" Cordelia's lips formed an 'o' in realisation, she cleared her throat awkwardly, already looking away from Sam's amused eyes as he knew what she was going to say. "Because she said it."

Dean furrowed his brows, "Said what? Bloody Mary?"

Cordelia nudged him even harder this time. "Can you not!? There's a mirror right there, jackass."

"Don't tell me-" Dean began, lips forming into a cocky smirk.

"Yeah, she's scared of Bloody Mary," Sam continued, matching his brother's smirk. "She won't even say it."

"Holy crap," Dean whistled. "Thought you were this big, bad scary hunter and you're telling me you're scared of a kids story?"

"Okay plane-boy," she scoffed, watching as his amused grin suddenly dropped from his face. "This could be real, getting my eyes scratched out sounds a lot less fun than a plane crash."

"Hey, that's a legitimate fear," Dean argued as they tried to find the bathroom. "Hardly a fear, actually, more like a-"

"Don't even lie, you screamed higher than a girl in a porno," Cordelia grumbled as she pushed a random door open, a proud smile pulled at her lips as she was welcomed ( or, well, unwelcomed ) to the bathroom where Steven had died.

The crimson stains that still laid on the tiled floors caught Cordelia's eye as she walked into the bathroom. "The Bloody Mary Legend," Sam began to say, ignoring the cringed look Cordelia held as the words left his mouth. "Dad ever find evidence that it was a real thing?"

Dean slowly shook his head, as he flicked the light on, "Not that I know of."

"I mean... everywhere else, all over the country, kids play Bloody Mary."

"Can you stop?" Cordelia grumbled under her breath.

Sam shot her an exasperated look. "Chill," he said before continuing. "As far as we know, nobody dies from it."

"Well, maybe everywhere it's just a story but here it's actually happening," Dean said, ignoring the look of triumph on Cordelia's face.

"What did I tell you, huh, Sammy? All those years you made fun of me in College, for what?" Suddenly Cordelia's face dropped, and her voice lowered. "...for it to become true. Oh God, we're gonna die. I'm gonna die."

"You're not gonna die, Cordy. It doesn't make sense, according to the legend, the person who says..." Sam's face scrunched up in irritation as Dean pulled the medicine cabinet open, eliciting the mirror to be shoved in Sam's face, the younger brother slammed the cabinet shut and continued. "...the person who says you know what, gets it. But here-"

"Shoemaker gets it instead, yeah, right," Dean interrupted.

At the revelation, Cordelia's face dropped. "So you're telling me... I don't even have to say it and she could still come for my ass?"

Dean pursed his lips and slowly nodded, "Yep."

"Never heard anything like that before," Cordelia muttered under her breath. "You'd think if I wanted a scary, demon lady to come after me, I'd have to summon her ⸻ but noooo, oh no, anyone can do that for me. The people in this town are just so damn thoughtful."

"You know, you're a lot more annoying when you're scared," Dean huffed, turning to face the brunette woman who was sat on the edge of the bath.

"Did you know, you become more repulsive the longer I look at you?" Cordelia raised an eyebrow as though the words that had left her mouth were interesting, her eyes continued to assess him ⸻ until Dean squirmed under her stare and shuffled away, that was.

Dean cleared his throat and turned his attention back to Sam who was waiting with an impatient look on his face. "Still, the guy did die right in front of the mirror, and the daughter's right. The way the legend goes... you know who scratches your eyes out."

"It's worth checking into," Sam spoke just as the sound of footsteps reverberated towards them.

Instead of hiding, like Cordelia would've done, Sam and Dean headed straight to the door ⸻ making an awkward situation arise. Cordelia internally winced as they were met with one of Donna's friends, a young blonde, Charlie.

"What are you doing up here?" She questioned harshly, eyes darting between the three of them.

Dean pursed his lips and looked at Cordelia questioningly, she pulled a face and gave him a shrug. "We..." Dean stumbled on his words and turned to Sam for help, his brother only gave him a small shake of his head. "We had to go to the bathroom."

"Together?" She asked, mainly looking at Cordelia ⸻ who looked more woeful by the second.

"Oh, yeah," Cordelia nodded with an exaggerated, suggestive look on her face. "Together," she said, lowering her voice to a sultry tone.

Sam opened his mouth and closed it, he shook his head and went to say something to the Moore woman, but nothing came out. Instead, he turned to the blonde who was giving them an odd glare. "She's kidding," Sam cleared his throat awkwardly, feeling the need to continue. "That's my brother, so... yeah."

Dean gave Sam a sarcastic pat on the back, Sam glared at him and swatted his hand away. Charlie, the blonde teenage girl, grew more irritated and her face scrunched up into a scowl. "Who are you?"

"Like we said downstairs, we worked with Donna's dad," Dean said smoothly, giving the girl a wide grin whilst leaning against the door frame.

"He was a day trader or something. He worked by himself," she said, raising her eyebrows with a pointed look.

"No, I know. I meant-"

"And all those weird questions downstairs... what was that? So you tell me what's going on or I start screaming," Charlie stated and crossed her arms over her chest.

Before Cordelia could even comment on the teenage girl sounding like a complete and utter brat, Sam spoke up hastily. "Alright, alright," he began. "We-"

"We're international superspies," Cordelia leant forward teasingly and lowered her voice, Charlie gave her an unimpressed stare. "We're here to see if the Grinch really did steal Christmas."

"Again... she's kidding," Sam cleared his throat and gave an awkward smile. "We think something happened to Donna's dad."

"Yeah, a stroke."

"Does that really look like the sign of a typical stroke?" Cordelia asked, gesturing toward the crimson-stained floor. Charlie's eyes flitted to the ground momentarily before her eyes settled back on Cordelia. "Could be something else," Cordelia said.

"Like what?" Charlie inquired, screwing her eyebrows together in confusion.

"Honestly... we don't know yet," Sam told her. "But we don't want it to happen to anyone else. That's the truth."

"So... if you're gonna scream, go right ahead," Dean said, almost in a warning tone, he tilted his head aside.

"Exceeept, if you do that I'll shoot you."

"She's, uh, joking... again." Sam gulped roughly, watching as Dean gave Cordelia a stern look.

"Who are you? Cops?" Charlie interrogated.

Dean tilted his head and his lips down-tugged, "Something like that."

"Tell you what..." Sam paused, taking a moment to rummage around in his pockets. "Here. If you think of anything, you or your friends notice anything strange, out of the ordinary, just give us a call."

He handed the blonde a card and began to head back downstairs, Dean and Cordelia followed in toll. Cordelia gave the back of Sam's head a weird look.

"You carry business cards around with you?" She asked rhetorically. "I'm sorry, who do you think we are? Ghostbusters? The goddamn Scooby Gang?"

"I like Scooby Doo," Dean shrugged as they exited the Shoemaker house.

"Course you do, Dean," Cordelia muttered and patted him on the shoulder as she went to pass him, but Dean's hand circled her wrist and he pulled her to him. Cordelia exhaled deeply and raised her eyebrows. "Yes?" She questioned roughly, ignoring the nervous flutter that erupted in her stomach.

"You need to quit threatenin' innocent people," Dean said, but it came out more like a grunted demand.

"Is this a telling-off?" Her eyebrows rose higher before an amused smile pulled at her lips. "You're joking. I'm not a kid, Dean."

"Never said you were," the Winchester shook his head, the breath of his words, hitting the soft of her cheek.

Cordelia's face screwed into an unimpressed stare. "Then quit treating me like one. Besides, what I said in there, I was joking. You know what a joke is, right?" At the blank stare, he gave her, her face dropped. "And here I thought you were the fun one."

As Cordelia tugged her wrist out of Dean's hold, the Winchester watched her walk off to the car with an offended look on his face. "Hey! I am the fun one!"

♰

After a very long and aggravating search in the library, the three migrated back to the motel and continued their search for any Marys in the area.

It was slowly driving Cordelia mad ⸻ correction, Dean was slowly driving Cordelia mad. He was hogging all of the papered records and newspapers, every time the Moore woman reached over to take a look he'd either bat her hand away or purposefully pull the piece of parchment out of her reach.

Cordelia spared a glance over at Sam, who laid atop the bed sheets, sleeping, she couldn't exactly say he was soundly sleeping, because he wasn't ⸻ he was fidgeting nonstop and rolling around restlessly.

He was having yet another nightmare, and there was no doubt in Cordelia's mind as to what it was about. She, too, had been dreaming about Jess, about the night she died. She would do anything, anything, to stop her mind from going back to that damned night.

Her hand subconsciously reached up to her neck, which was harbouring the dainty, delicate necklace Jess had gotten her on her birthday.

A loud gasp snapped Cordelia out of her thoughts, she angled her head towards the bed where Sam laid, his mouth hung open and his eyes wide ⸻ the Moore woman decided against voicing her opinions on his current state, her opinions being that he looked like absolute shit.

Sam swallowed roughly and held his gaze on the ceiling, "Why'd you let me fall asleep?"

"Because I'm an awesome brother," Dean drawled dryly with a sarcastic tone to his voice. "So, what'd you dream about?"

"Lollipops and candy canes," Sam retorted lowly.

Dean huffed out an unamused breath, "Yeah, sure."

Sam sighed and looked towards the pair. "You find anything?" He asked.

Cordelia slowly shook her head, "Bit hard to if Dean won't share anything with me."

Dean threw a hand up in exasperation. "I already said you could read that!" He said, pointing down to a lone piece of parchment that sat on the small table before he pushed it towards her.

"And I told you, I've already read it!" She said, giving the paper a little shove back over to Dean.

"So read it again," he shrugged. "You probably missed somethin'."

Cordelia's eyes widened in offence, "I didn't miss anything."

Sam pursed his lips, "I take that as a no, then."

"Yeah, besides a whole new level of frustration towards Cordelia. No. I've looked at everything," Dean said, slamming shut the large book that sat in his lap, causing Cordelia to reach over and snatch it out of his grip, he sent her an annoyed look. "A few local women, a Laura and a Catherine committed suicide in front of a mirror and a giant mirror fell on a guy named Dave, but, uh..."

"You probably missed something," Cordelia mocked in a deep tone, childishly copying the words Dean had spoken to her only a minute ago.

"Funny," Dean gave a sarcastic smile in response.

Sam let out a large sigh and fell back onto the bed eccentrically. "Maybe we just haven't found it yet."

"I've also been searching for strange deaths in the area, you know, eyeball bleeding, that sort of thing. There's nothing," Dean let out an agitated breath. "Whatever's happening here maybe just ain't Mary."

Just as Cordelia was about to say something, Sam's phone rang ⸻ the Winchester leant forward to grab his phone and answered with a brief greeting.

Whilst Sam was on the phone, Cordelia begrudgingly rose from her seat and made her way over to Dean, she stood behind his chair and decided, since he wasn't willing to share the research, she'd be annoying and read over his shoulder.

Sam watched them as he sat on the bed, he watched as Cordelia pointed something out, causing Dean to bat her hand away, and in turn, she did the same to him.

The youngest Winchester rolled his eyes as they began to bicker between each other in hushed whispers.

Sam internally groaned, could they be any more childish?

♰

The three made their way to the park where they were meeting Charlie, a friend of Donna's. They soon found out that Charlie and Donna's friend, Jill, the one who was checking Dean out at the funeral, had died after she had uttered those sacred words Cordelia dreaded to hear.

They then made their way over to Jill's house ⸻ unfortunately for the three hunters, they had to climb in through the window. Cordelia might've been a hunter, but that sure as hell didn't mean she had the upper-body strength to do that.

As Charlie entered Jill's bedroom, she raced across the room and made her way over to the window. She hastily pulled the window open and Sam swiftly made his way inside.

Cordelia looked towards Dean, silently asking if he was going, but he merely gestured for her to go next. The Moore woman wasn't as delicate as Sam was as she climbed through the window ⸻ but with a slight struggle, she got one leg over.

As she climbed into the room, she turned to look at Dean as he made his way in. "You were looking at my ass, weren't you?"

Dean gasped dramatically. "Are you kidding me?" He paused and let out a cheeky smile. "Of course I was."

"You're so repulsive," she scoffed.

"Hey, at least I'm honest," he shrugged.

Cordelia rolled her eyes and turned to the very anxious-looking teenage girl. "So, what'd you tell Jill's mom?"

"I just said I needed some time alone with Jill's things," she inhaled deeply and rubbed a hand across her forehead. "I hate lying to her."

"Trust us," Dean grunted as he drew the curtains shut. "This is for the greater good."

Cordelia shot Dean a weirded look. If this weren't a serious situation she would've mocked his words, the greater good, who did he think he was, Shakespeare?

"Could you grab the lights, please?" Cordelia asked, turning to face Charlie with a kind smile on her face, the teen nodded and went to do so ⸻ Cordelia's smile dropped from her face as she turned to Dean. "For the greater good, yeah?"

What could she say? She couldn't help herself.

Den narrowed his eyes at the mocking tone in her voice. "Shuddup," he grumbled, searching through the duffle bag he had placed on the bed.

"What are you guys looking for?" Charlie questioned as she made her way back over to the three, well, to Sam and Dean, Cordelia sat on the bed, watching as they did all the work.

"We'll let you know as soon as we find it," Dean said in reply.

"Hey," Sam spoke up, handing Cordelia the camera. "Night vision."

Cordelia flicked it on and lifted the camera to ensure that it was working properly. Once Dean saw that the camera was pointed his way, he turned his shoulder to an angle and looked back.

"Do I look like Paris Hilton?" He teased, playfully raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, if she got hit by a bus fifty times and then ran over by a tractor," Cordelia muttered before she handed Sam the night vision camera back.

Dean's face dropped at her words. "You really know how to bruise a man's ego," he uttered, watching as Sam moved across the room with Charlie and the camera. Dean leant down ever so slightly and lowered his voice. "But, you know, if you wanna-"

"Nope," Cordelia shook her head and rose from the bed, moving away from Dean.

"You don't even know what I was gonna say," Dean threw his hands up in exasperation.

"I don't want to know," Cordelia told him before she anxiously turned to look at Sam as he began to speak.

"So I don't get it, I mean, the first victim didn't summon Mary and the second victim did. How's she choosing them?"

"There's gotta be some sort of connection there, we just need to figure it out," she inhaled deeply.

"I wanna know why Jill said it in the first place," Dean said, glancing over at Charlie as he slowly walked around the room, his EMF meter in hand.

"It was just a joke," Charlie replied, slightly lifting a shoulder.

"Yeah, well, somebody's gonna say it again, it's just a matter of time."

Cordelia pursed her lips at his words, and then she thought about the fact that she was standing in the room where Mary had killed someone, where somebody had uttered those words.

Christ, she felt sick. Her younger self would be screaming right now. "I gotta tell you guys, I'm not loving this," Cordelia spoke in a whisper, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Ghosts, Demons and Wendigos you're okay with, but a woman in a mirror?" Sam called out, an amused tone to his voice.

"She takes your eyes, Sam!"

"Don't worry," Dean said, swinging his arm around her shoulder. "I'll protect you."

"Get off me," Cordelia shrugged his arm off of her and sent him a look.

Just as Dean went to say something ( most likely, childish ) back, Sam interrupted. "Can you two not? Case, remember?" He spared them a quick glance and a pointed look before he continued his search, suddenly he paused his actions. "Hey, there's a black light in the trunk, right?"

Dean nodded in answer and all heads turned to look in Cordelia's direction. Cordelia's tongue poked the inside of her cheek in annoyance.

"I'm not climbing through that window again," she shook her head, but Sam merely rose his eyebrows. "No. Sam, I have the upper-body strength of a twelve-year-old, if you make me do that again, I'll pass out."

"Then you better hurry up, at least that way you can pass out after you get back from the car," Sam lifted a shoulder, a sly, amused smirk sitting on his lips.

"Nope, not doing it."

♰

    Cordelia grunted as she grasped Dean's hand as he helped her back into the room. The amused look on his face merely made her want to punch him.

"Don't even," she shook her head, giving him a strong look.

Dean threw his hands up in the air, but a smirk rested on his lips as he knew that the expression on his face was enough to goad her. "I didn't say anything."

She tossed the black light in Sam's direction just after he had finished moving the mirror from the wall, onto the bed, facing downwards.

"Thanks," Sam said, a smug look on his face as he caught the light. Suddenly, he ripped the thin sheet of paper off the back of the mirror and flicked the light on, blue reflected from the torch.

His movements were almost calculated, he held a slow, steady hand as the light hovered over the back of the mirror. It was soon after that they had found something ⸻ a hand print.

Cordelia leant forward and squinted her eyes as she caught sight of something under the handprint; it looked like a name. "Okay, what the hell does that say?"

Sam, too, tilted his head and squinted his eyes. "Gary Bryman?" He said, looking toward the other three, the face Charlie pulled was enough for his brows to furrow. "You know who that is?"

"No," the blonde shook her head and admitted truthfully.

Cordelia let out  a breath of air just as Dean spoke up, "We hitting the library?"

Sam nodded in answer, but before he could comment, Cordelia's voice rang out. "Maybe we should let Dean do it, you know, since he's real eager to get all the research done?" She quipped, referring to earlier when he wouldn't share the research with her.

Sam gave her an amused look. "Yeah, yeah. Good idea," he nodded once again and turned to his brother, who was glaring at him. "Me and Cordy'll stay with Charlie while you do that."

Dean let out an irritated sigh and muttered childish profanities under his breath, he pulled the window open once again, and with one final glare in Sam and Cordelia's direction ⸻ he put one leg through the window and began to make his exit.

♰

    Once Dean had met back up with the other three, he had revealed that Gary Bryman was an eight-year-old boy who was killed in a hit and run two years ago and to Charlie's shock, the car that hit the young boy was indeed Jill's car.

As the case slowly started to piece together, they headed back to Donna's house and checked the mirror in which Steven Shoemaker died in front of, the blacklight showed the name ⸻ Linda Shoemaker, Donna's mom.

After that, Charlie stayed with Donna and the three hunters migrated back to their motel room, continuing the research.

The oldest Winchester brother sat at the table, laptop in front of him whilst Sam paced up and down in front of the wall where all their research had been pinned up.

"Wait, wait, wait," Sam suddenly turned around to face his brother. "You're doing a nationwide search?"

"Yep," Dean answered without looking back up at his brother, his eyes were solely trained on the laptop that sat on the small table in front of him. "The NCIC, the FBI database ⸻ at this point any Mary who died in front of a mirror is good enough for me."

"But if she's haunting the town, she should've died in the town," Cordelia said, rising from her place sat on the edge of the bed and moving over to stand behind Dean, whilst Sam took her place on the bed.

"There's nothing local, so, unless you've got a better idea," Dean trailed off, raising his eyebrows at her with a look.

Cordelia pulled a face. Unless you've got a better idea, she mocked in her head. She always had a better idea... just not right now.

"The way Mary's choosing her victims... seems like there's a pattern," Sam said.

"I know, I was thinking the same thing."

"With Mr. Shoemaker and Jill's hit and run-"

"They both had secrets where people died..." Cordelia said, words trailing off as her heart rate picked up ever so slightly, and her breath hitched.

"Right, there's a lot of folklore about mirrors, that they reveal all your lies, all your secrets, that they're a true reflection of your soul, which is why it's bad luck to break 'em," Sam continued.

"Right, right, so maybe if you've got a secret, I mean, like a really nasty one where someone died and Mary sees it... she punishes you for it," Dean carried on, looking toward his brother as realisation crossed their faces.

"Whether you summoned her or not," Cordelia said as her hands curled around the back of Dean's chair with a tight grip, her knuckles turning white.

Dean glanced back at her for a moment, eyes flickering down at her hands. The brunette woman hastily moved her hands out of sight, placing them in her back pockets.

"...Take a look at this," Dean gestured down to the printer as sheets of paper flooded out of it.

Sam picked up the printed sheets and held them side-by-side, comparing them. One was an older photograph, in which Cordelia hadn't seen before, and the other was a picture Sam had taken from the back of Jill's mirror.

They both consisted of a crimson hand print and a name, only the older, unseen picture, hadn't a full name, it simply said 'TRE'.

"Looks like the same handprint," Sam voiced Cordelia's thoughts.

"Her name was Mary Worthington... an unsolved murder in Fort Wayne, Indiana."

A feeling of dread brewed in the deepest, darkest pit of Cordelia's stomach. She had a secret in which a person died. She had killed someone. It didn't matter whether it was self-defence or not, it didn't matter that it wasn't her fault... in Mary's eyes, she had done the deed and she would have to pay for it.

All day, she had been saying that no matter what, she wouldn't say it ⸻ but if they found a way to destroy her, she would do it.

Childhood fears or not, Cordelia was a damn good hunter. She hadn't been raised how she had just to pussy out the second she got scared, no, she would shove those fears down Mary's throat and choke her with them.

♰

    After speaking to the detective who was on Mary's murder case, they soon found out that the detective suspected a surgeon, Trevor Sampson. They also found out that Mary was cremated, making this a whole lot more difficult than just burning the remains.

They then found out the mirror she died in front of, was sold last week to a store in the town where the current murders were happening.

Where the mirror goes, Mary goes.

But alas, it was not over yet, during the car journey back from Indiana, Charlie called frantically and the three sped back and ushered her to the motel room.

Which is why they were currently running around the room like headless chickens trying to cover any mirrors or any reflective surfaces, whilst Charlie was sat on the bed in a ball, covering her eyes.

As the youngest Winchester took a seat on the bed next to her to calm her down, Dean grabbed Cordelia's arm in passing. "Ask her what happened," he said in a hushed voice.

Cordelia's brows knotted together. "Why me?"

"Because you're a chick," he rose his brows. "You know how to talk to sad teenage girls... you're good with Sam, it's basically the same thing."

Cordelia couldn't help but let an amused smile curl on her lips. "True, he's definitely as stroppy as one."

Dean made a noise of agreement before he clasped his hands on her shoulders, spun her around and gave her a shove in the direction of the bed ⸻ Sam and Charlie looked up at the scuffle.

Cordelia gave an awkward smile before she took a seat on the bed. She tried to be as comforting as possible, after all, her job entailed not only saving people but comforting them, and hell, she was bad at it.

Sam's lips pulled into a smirk at the grimace that was on Cordelia's face.

"Alright, we need to know what happened," Cordelia said, clearing her throat as she angled her head to glance at Charlie.

"We were in the bathroom, Donna said it," Charlie told the brunette, sniffling as she did so.

Cordelia let a small, what she hoped to be a, comforting, smile pull at her lips. "That's not what I'm talking about," she shook her head slowly, watching as Charlie's eyes began to tear up. "You've got a secret, and this secret... it's gonna cost you your life. We can't help you if you don't let us in." Cordelia internally scoffed at her words, she had a secret, one she hadn't voiced to the boys either. Hypocrite. "I'm talking about a secret where someone got hurt." The look on Charlie's face confirmed to Cordelia that the young girl knew exactly what she was talking about. "Can you tell us about it?"

"I had this boyfriend," Charlie finally said, her lips trembled and emotion coaxed her voice as the words left her mouth. "I loved him. But he kind of scared me too, you know? And one night at his house... we got into this fight, then I broke up with him and he got upset and he said he needed me and he loved me. And he said... "Charlie, if you walk out that door right now I'm gonna kill myself." And you know what I said? I said, "go ahead." And I left." Her voice cracked, and tears slowly streamed down her face. "How could I say that? How could I leave him like that? I just... I didn't believe him, you know? I should've."

♰

    Cordelia sat in the back seat, anxiously fiddling with her fingers. Charlie's boyfriend killing himself wasn't her fault ⸻ but yet Mary was still after her, and Cordelia soon realised she would have the same fate as the teen.

"You know, her boyfriend killing himself that's not really Charlie's fault," Dean voiced Cordelia's thoughts, he angled his head to face his brother but still kept a cautious eye on the road.

"You know as well as I do... spirits don't exactly see shades of grey, Dean," Sam told his brother with an exasperated sigh. "Charlie had a secret, someone died. That's good enough for Mary."

"I guess," Dean let out a short breath before his eyes flickered up to the rearview mirror, he narrowed his eyes at the quiet woman in the back. "You good?"

It took Cordelia a couple of seconds to realise that he was talking to her, the brunette only gave a brisk nod in answer. It wasn't the fact that she was scared of Mary actually getting her ( she was, kinda ), it was more the fact that this entire case was bringing up bad memories for her, memories that made her feel sick to her stomach.

"You know, I've been thinking, it might not be enough to just smash that mirror," Sam said after a moment, pulling Dean's gaze away from Cordelia.

"Why, what'd you mean?" Cordelia said, speaking up for the first time in what felt like forever.

"Mary's hard to pin down, right? I mean, she moves around from mirror to mirror. So who's to say that she won't just keep hiding in them forever?"

Cordelia slowly nodded at his words, "So we try to pin her down, summon her to her mirror, then smash it."

"Exactly," Sam agreed, looking back at Cordelia.

"Well, how do you know that's gonna work?" Dean asked, glancing between the two with furrowed brows.

"I don't... well, not for sure," Sam said.

"Well, who's gonna summon her?" Dean questioned, raising his eyebrows.

"I will," Sam answered before Cordelia even got a chance to comment. "She'll come after me."

Dean gave his brother a blazing side-eye and pulled the car over, before he got a chance to speak, Cordelia piped up. "It's fine, I'll do it."

Sam furrowed his brows and whirled around to face her, did she have the same dreams he did about Jessica? Dean must've been thinking the same as he turned to look between them. "If this is about Jessica... guys-"

"This isn't about Jess," Cordelia said, rubbing her, now, sweaty hands down her jeans.

"What are you talking about? Why haven't you said anything?" Sam questioned his best friend.

"If I told you then it wouldn't really be a secret, would it?" Cordelia said, an amused smile pulling at her lips.

Dean physically recoiled with an offended look on his face. "No," he simply stated before he turned to Sam, whose mouth was hanging open, as though he was about to say something. "No. I don't like it, it's not gonna happen, forget it."

Cordelia pursed her lips mockingly, "I don't care if you like it or not Dean, it's happening. Boss Sam around all you like, but you can't tell me what to do. Charlie'll die if I don't do this, so you can sit and mope about, but this, this is happening."

The car journey to the store where the Mary's mirror was held, was a silent one. Sam sat in the front, trying to piece together Cordelia's secret ⸻ but he came up with nothing. Dean was reluctant, but he knew if they didn't do it, Cordelia was right, Charlie, and many more, would die.

So, as they stood outside the store,  Cordelia's heart racked against her rib cage, but deep down she knew she was doing the right thing, after all, she was a hunter ⸻ she lived her life to save those who couldn't save themselves.

Plus, childhood fears or not, she was a damn good hunter, she knew she wouldn't be dying tonight.

She knelt in front of the door, using hair grips to unlock it, Sam and Dean stood behind her, cautiously glancing around to ensure that no one was coming.

When she finally got the door unlocked, she glanced around for a moment and silently pulled the door open. As they stepped into the shop, a shiver crawled across Cordelia's body. It was eerie as hell in here, she could hear the faint ticking of a clock, the thunder rumbled dangerously from outside and everywhere she looked, she was met with a reflection of herself and the boys.

"Well, that's just great," Dean grumbled sarcastically, looking around at all the mirrors. He reached into his pocket and pulled a folded picture of Mary's mirror out. "Alright," he voiced as he showed the other two. "Let's start lookin'."

Sam silently nodded and began to make his way down one of the aisles, flashlight clad in hand, Cordelia went to do the same but was stopped as Dean grabbed her arm. "Uh, uh," he shook his head. "You're with me."

Cordelia rolled her eyes, but almost stumbled on her feet when the Winchester began to drag her down one of the aisles. "I know what you're doing, I'm not going to tell you."

"Cordelia-"

"If I tell you, then it's not a secret," she reminded him. "Forget it... plus, did you even think that, maybe, I don't wanna tell you."

Dean's face pulled into one of teasing offence, "I thought we were friends, Cordy."

"I'm your friend, Dean, you're not mine," she quipped, with a sarcastic smile on her lips,  pulling her arm from his grip.

"Ouch," he held a hand to his heart. "And here I was, thinking we were good friends..." he lowered his voice. "Who may kiss occasionally-"

"Well that's another thing you were wrong about, then," she said, flashing her light over the mirrors, keeping a watchful eye out for Mary's mirror, she turned to face Dean, without realising just how close they were, she took a small step back, but that still didn't feel like enough. "That kiss, was nothing, okay? And it won't happen again."

Dean gave her a look that insinuated she was lying, but then a boyish smile pulled at his lips. "We'll see."

"I'm being serious, Dean," she gave him a look and turned back to face the aisle, she slowly made her way down it when she heard his voice call out after her.

"So am I, I always get what I want, Cordy!"

Cordelia rolled her eyes and chose to ignore him as she continued to look for the mirror at a hurried pace, managing to lose Dean in the process.

As Cordelia, Sam and Dean looked around, they were losing hope, they must've looked at dozens of mirrors but the one they were searching for, was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe they've already sold it!" Dean's voice reverberated through the room from the other side of the shop.

"Maybe..." Cordelia began to say, but her voice trailed off as her flashlight fell onto a familiar-looking mirror. She had found it. "I got it!"

Sam and Dean rounded the corner and stood beside the Moore woman, Dean once again pulled out his sheet of paper and compared the mirrors. "That's it," he confirmed.

Cordelia, once again, couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I know that's it, or I wouldn't have said, "I got it,"."

"You're a real bitch today, aren't you?" Dean said jokingly before a more serious look overtook his face. "You sure about this?"

"I can do it if you-" Sam began to say.

"I'll kick you both in the balls, step back," she interrupted, giving them each a look. She could see Sam internally prepping to do it, but she wouldn't let him.

"O-kay," Sam pursed his lips, sharing a look with Dean as he took the flashlight out of her hands and handed her a crowbar.

She slowly made her way over to the mirror and let out a deep breath. "Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary..." she halted for a second, tightening her grip on the weapon. "Bloody Mary."

Nothing happened for a moment, and then, bright lights faded into the room, Dean glanced back with squinted eyes, "I'll go check that out, you two stay here. Be careful, smash anything that moves."

Sam and Cordelia glanced around cautiously before Sam gently nudged the Moore woman, gesturing to something beside her. She lightly nodded before pulling her arm back and smashed the glass of the mirror beside Mary's, followed by another.

A noise was heard from the other side of the room and Sam glanced over in that direction. "Go," Cordelia told him.

"You sure?" He asked sceptically.

"I'll be fine, go," she told him.

"Remember, smash anything," he said before trailing off to investigate the noise, pulling his gun from the back of his jeans as he did so.

"Come on," she whispered to herself, facing Mary's mirror. "Come into this one, I dare you."

Her face screwed up into one of confusion as her reflection began smirking. 

Her reflection only smiled a sinister smile and she then let a short gasp out, feeling something trickle down her face. Veins bulged out from under her eyes, a sharp pain was felt in her heart and the crowbar that she held in her hand, dropped to the floor with a clank.

"You killed him," her voice reverberated throughout the shop, though it did not come from her lips. She was so stuck in her mind she didn't even notice Sam rush around the corner, she didn't notice how he had reached out to smash the mirror before that same pain struck his chest.

"You stabbed him and you just kept on stabbing him... there was barely anything left of him by the time you were done."

Cordelia wanted to scream at the reminder, flashes of that night blurred through her mind like a taunt, the blood, the glass bottle, her shaky hands.

Cordelia's legs gave out on her and she fell to her knees, clutching her chest, her free hand dropped to the ground, searching for the crowbar she had dropped, but she came to no avail, instead, she was met with the feeling of broken glass shards under her hand, she held back a hiss.

"You took what was left of his body and buried it, like he was nothing!"

He was nothing, Cordelia wanted to scream out, but the pain that flowed through her body didn't allow her the chance to, her hands scrambled around her, and finally, her fingers met metal.

"You are no different from the things you hunt, you're the same cold-blooded murderer! You are a-"

Her grip on the crowbar tightened as the pain in her chest increased, once again, she swung her shoulder back and smashed the mirror with a grunt.

Cordelia dropped to the floor with a sigh of relief as the pain slowly lessened, she turned to check Sam, finding him with his head down, breathing heavily.

"You good?" She managed to choke out, glancing over at him as she rested her back against one of the mirrors she hadn't smashed.

Sam merely stuck his thumbs up.

"Good, cause I think I'm gonna throw up in a sec and-"

Just then, Dean came rushing toward them. He crouched down between them, holding a hand on Sam's head and a hand reached out towards Cordelia. "Sammy!" He lifted his brother's head, worry painted his features as he noticed the blood that coated Sam's face.

"Okay, now I'm definitely going to throw up," Cordelia grumbled under her breath, wincing at the volume of Dean's voice.

"It's Sam," the youngest Winchester uttered with narrowed eyes.

"God, you okay?" He asked, to which Sam answered with a simple, "yeah". He then turned to Cordelia, "You okay?"

"I'm never looking in a damn mirror again," she stated, instead of giving him a proper answer.

Dean shook his head slowly. Turning to Sam, he lifted him up and threw an arm over his shoulder. Once Sam was situated, Dean held a hand out to Cordelia, she took it and he tugged her up, using his free hand to hook around her waist as he carried both her and Sam toward the door.

Cordelia's heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach when she heard the crunch of the glass behind them.

Maybe it's time I retire, she thought to herself.

The three paused for a second and slowly turned around ( which, by the way... big mistake! ), that familiar pain crawled back up Cordelia's chest and the trio fell to the floor in agony.

Dean acted fast as he rolled on his side and grabbed the closest mirror to him, he turned it towards Mary and she halted in place.

The Moore woman held back a gag as Mary, well... melted.

"This has got to be like, what, six hundred years of bad luck?" Dean asked, glancing over to the two, Sam let out an amused breath whilst Cordelia gave him a wry stare, only one thing playing on her mind.

How was she ever going to look in a single mirror again?

♰

    Cordelia sat in the backseat of the Impala, the blood that once caked under her eyes and down her cheeks was smudged across her face in an attempt to wipe it off ⸻ it merely made her look worse.

She knew, judging by the looks on the Winchester brothers' faces, that they had questions, but they weren't the only ones. Cordelia knew that she could trust Sam, and she did, but the only thing that plagued her mind was the fear of her best friend looking at her differently.

And while she may not like to admit it, she did also care what Dean thought about her. She didn't know why, I mean, Dean annoyed the hell out of her, but there was still something about him that just... nagged at her.

The two brothers stared at her in silence for a moment as they waited for her to speak, and so she did.

( WARNING )

She had told them how on one night some students had gone out drinking at a bar, someone had put something in her drink, and how she could barely stand as she was dragged to the dark, stingy alleyway at the back of the bar.

She could distinctively remember the stench of the alcohol on his breath, how he seeped of sweat and vomit and how dirty he felt, how dirty she felt when he touched her.

She remembered how she'd tried to push him off of her, but she felt so damn weak. There, however, was a small gap in her memory ⸻ she knew that whatever it was, she didn't want to remember, but after that, all she could remember was her holding something, like a broken beer bottle, and he was on the ground clutching his head whilst glass scattered on the floor.

She couldn't remember much, whether it be the trauma of what happened or the anger that coursed through her body, but she knew that she had killed him. How she struck at him over and over again, until both she and him were coaxed with his blood.

She remembered how she had dragged his body across the concrete, how she buried him, along with the memories of that night.

By the time she was done telling the Winchesters, she hadn't noticed that Dean had taken her shaking hand in his. She uttered some final words before declaring she needed a shower, pulling her hand from Dean's, leaving both him and Sam sat in the Impala.

As she walked up toward the motel room door, she took a minute to compose herself knowing that Charlie was in there, she didn't want to worry the teenage girl, thinking that her sullen mood had something to do with the case going wrong.

So, she took a deep breath and strode back inside. Charlie shot up from the bed at a fast pace as the door opened. "Hey," the teenager greeted warily. "How'd it go?"

"We got her," Cordelia told her with a small smile, giving her a faint nod.

"It's over?" Charlie sucked in a breath of relief.

"It's over," Cordelia confirmed with a nod of her head, moving to head toward the bathroom before Charlie's voice rang out.

"Cordelia?" She called out hesitantly, the brunette woman glanced back at her. "Thank you."

Cordelia gave her a soft smile and pushed the bathroom door open.

It must've been at least ten minutes, and Cordelia had been stood in the same place she was when she first entered the bathroom. She hadn't managed to get in the shower yet, rather, she just stood in front of the mirror and mindlessly stared into it.

It was a loud, reverberating knock on the door that broke her out of her trance. "Yeah?" She called out.

"You decent?" Dean's voice shouted out after a second, he cleared his throat awkwardly.

Cordelia rolled her eyes, she couldn't get away from him for a damn second.

"I don't know yet," she said, pondering her options. "What do you want?"

From the other side of the door, Dean rolled his eyes and pushed the door open, squeezing himself into the tight space. He lifted a small bag and Cordelia groaned.

"C'mon, I just did Sam, now it's your turn," he stressed, gesturing down to her arm.

Cordelia knew what he was doing, and she was grateful that he wasn't going to say anything. She leant against the wall and stuck out her arm with a bored look on her face, whilst Dean's held one of triumph.

And so they stood, talking the night away like a bunch of teenage girls as Dean stitched her arm up. As strange as it was to admit, Cordelia, weirdly, found an odd sense of comfort in Dean.

Barf.

Author's Note! *UNEDITED*
I live vicariously through cordy with her fits I love y2k fashion, the low-rise jeans and small tops just make me ahhhh yk.

Also, that does not count as a first kiss that is nothinnnng. it's more than a peck but not a shoving their tongues down each other's throats kind of kiss ... it was mellow ig their first kiss is gonna be 🤌🏽

this one was a lonnnng one (10,000+ words, im gonna b sick) and kinda boring, I've just had fuck all motivation recently lmao, I was going to make the ending a bit longer but this chapter was plenty long, plus there's more opportunities for him to stitch her up or her to stitch him up, after all with their job they're getting kebabed everyday

idk whether to skip the skin episode or not - should I write that one or skip it??